A New Urban Agenda: Conservation as an aim of sustainable development

Widya Anggraini, Surabaya Community Manager

Surabaya, 13 October 2016

Prepcom 3 was held in Surabaya earlier this year, in July 2016, as an attempt to formulate a sustainable urban development agenda in preparation for the Habitat III Conference in Quito, which has set out standards for the next 20 years to address major urban problems. Sustainable development requires the ability to maintain the quality of the environment and the harmony between nature and human beings. This also means that the city needs to maintain its originality by preserving historic buildings through careful planning without displacing them. In this case, city planning often becomes justification to spur eviction, including in Surabaya.

Surabaya itself is one of the cities in Indonesia with many historical buildings with relics that have become a symbol of the early history of Indonesia. Surabaya is also known as the City of Heroes. Previous governments have paid little attention to the history of Surabaya and planned to mirror the city with Jakarta. However, there is good practice from the current government that understands the importance of preserving their history by issuing Local regulation No 5/2005 on Cultural Heritage Preservation.

Cultural heritage preservation aims to maintain the authenticity of buildings, while maintaining and protecting the building from damage and utilizing buildings as cultural properties. Before the regulation was enacted, many historical buildings were destroyed, because their existing standards mismatched with modern ones as globalization requires modernization of infrastructure. The government was concerned about this development and reacted by issuing regulation. In its implementation, according to the head of the Department of Culture and Tourism, Wiwik Widayati, stated that the city has conducted an inventory of cultural heritage based on reports from community or public figures who are concerned about the preservation of cultural heritage. She also stated that cultural preservation was conducted by renovating and producing more technical guidelines to maintain historical continuity.

The effort to maintain the authenticity of the city has been strong. Conservation of cultural heritage areas are currently being carried out. Also, conservation can help the government in terms of economic development. When the cultural heritage has been managed and conserved, it will be a key attraction for foreign and domestic tourists. This also means additional local revenue. The city department of Culture and Tourism said that Surabaya currently has about 273 heritage buildings with a variety of types that could be conserved and developed to maintain the history of Surabaya.

Sustainable development requires preservation and management of cultural heritage in new way according to local development. The challenge for the government in maintaining the uniqueness of cultural heritage, then conserved and preserved is the lack of public knowledge on the part of building owners or the owners of capital who do not understand the criteria of cultural heritage. The consequence is that they often violate the procedure of development in heritage areas. If demolition comes before reporting takes place, it makes it too late to protect. Awareness should be improved. Synergy between government and the people is vital for cultural heritage conservation and preservation so that the city has strong ownership and appreciation towards the history of the city.